


hell hath no fury

by Jace_Diaz_Of_Hell



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Gore, Mild Interrogation, Stabbing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:56:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27186220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jace_Diaz_Of_Hell/pseuds/Jace_Diaz_Of_Hell
Summary: normally, nebula isn't like this. but today's not normal.
Relationships: Nebula & Aaza, Nebula & Hoss, Nebula & Pepper, The Starens
Kudos: 1





	hell hath no fury

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!! If you've read my fics before, you probably recognize Nebula as my fankid from Final Space. She's still much the same here- just tweaked to be an original work!

The halls of the ship were dark, red lights flashing in their distress signals. If that weren’t noticeable enough, the alarms were  _ screaming.  _

Nebula had herded Hoss into the room and asked Aaza to keep her company- something in her face must have showed how serious it was to her, because the android had nodded solemnly. And Nebula had gone to find Pepper, because he knew she had been involved in some shady shit and she thought backup might be nice. But when she got there, he was unconscious, a bloody wound on the back of his head from their boarders.

And suddenly, Nebula is seething with rage. 

These  _ lowlifes,  _ not even part of her family’s crew, think they have the right to board  _ her  _ ship? To scare  _ her  _ friend? To hurt  _ her  _ bodyguard?

Clearly, they need to be taught a lesson. 

She pulls her hair back into a low, functional ponytail, and survey’s the walls of Pepper’s room, picking out the weapons she knows how to use and straps them on. When she leaves the room, she’s not even recognizable.

This isn’t Nebula Starling, intergalactic pop star and media darling. This is Nebula  _ Spaceman,  _ who knows six different ways to kill someone with something as little as a charger cord. This is the girl who rose through the ranks of her parents crew with scary determination, because if there wasn’t a life for her outside of it, then she was going to be the  _ best  _ there was at the whole crime thing.

It doesn’t take her long. They’ve only sent one person aboard, and isn’t that arrogant? She finds him quickly- he’s in  _ her  _ room, after all, trying to shove her jewelry into a bag. Nebula stalks in, knife in hand, and knocks him out with the hilt of it. 

She could end it a few different ways right here and now- toss him out in the vacuum of space, let him gasp and freeze to death. A bullet clean through the back of his head. A knife in the heart.

But she thinks about Hoss’ wide eyes, and the determined look on Aaza’s face as she closed the door. She thinks about the blood on her hand from checking to see if Pepper was alive, how injured he was. And she knows a quick, clean death won’t work for this one. 

So she drags him out and down to the cargo hold, leaving behind the bag he was shoving things in, and ties him to a chair.

Once he’s there, Nebula paces back and forth, the fury in her stomach lending energy to her limbs. She didn’t hit him  _ that  _ hard, honestly.

Right around the time she’s thinking this, the person groans, and starts to stir. Nebula’s pacing brings her to a stop right in front of him. 

“Care to explain yourself?” She asks, in a tone of voice that’s one she hasn’t found herself using in three years. The voice of a very dangerous, very  _ angry,  _ leader, who’s just had peoples lives at risk. 

“Nah,” the stranger says, and leans back in his restraints, calm as can be. “I’m doing what I want, and taking what I want. Nothing wrong with that.”

A moment later, a dull  _ thud  _ echos in the room and the pirate stares at her, his cheek red. Blood dribbles from his lip where he had accidentally caught it when she punched him. 

“Your ship is the kind of ship affiliated with the Spaceman Clan.” Nebula snaps out, keeping her words steely and professional. “If memory serves, the  _ only  _ people allowed to pirate ships are the patriarchs and the matriarch.”

“How do you know I’m not one of them?” He asks, and Nebula can’t help but laugh, throwing the knife in her hand so it nicks his ear. He yelps, and she grins. Fiercely. She barely even feels like she recognizes herself right now. 

“Because, they’re a dozen times better than you.” She says. Her voice drops as she takes a couple steps forwards. “And they would  _ never  _ steal from me.”

His eyes dart over her face, taking in her features. Finally, he glances towards her ear, and sees the outline of the tattoo- visible only because she was getting ready for bed. 

“So it’s true,” He says, his voice dipping down to a sneer. “They really  _ do  _ have another heir. No wonder they were so pissed when they found out what Satelle’s brother did.”

At the reminder of her uncle, Nebula just  _ barely  _ flinches. Her own screaming echoes in her ears, and she can feel the phantom pain of her leg again, doubling the  _ real  _ pain from being on it all day. That small action makes the pirate smirk, and Nebula’s in  _ rage.  _

So she does the only thing she can think of- yanks the knife out of the wall and buries it in the asshole’s shoulder, clamping a hand over his mouth. She doesn’t want Hoss to hear, and doesn’t know how far the Xymas girl’s hearing reaches. 

Even though its muffled, the sound of him screaming makes her smirk in a way she knows she’ll hate the next day. 

“You wanna mention that  _ traitor  _ again?” She asks, her voice sickly sweet, all traces of pretense gone. The man shakes his head frantically, and tries to speak, so Nebula releases her hand. 

“I’m sorry, I should have known better, this is all a big misunderstanding. Just let me go and I’ll-”

“You’ll  _ what?”  _ Nebula asks scornfully. Normally she would turn him loose. But  _ normally  _ isn’t now, when her secret’s been discovered. When she saw Hoss shaking in fear, when she saw Pepper,  _ her  _ Pepper, lying bloodied on the floor. There is no mercy for right now. She grabs the hilt of the knife, and drives it into his thigh, once again covering his mouth for the duration of the scream. 

“You’ll go to my mom and dads? Tell them you tried to  _ steal _ from their oldest?” She demands, twisting the knife as she speaks. “Tell them you were in  _ her  _ room, taking what belonged to  _ her?”  _

He’s sobbing now. It makes no difference to her. 

“Let me tell you something,  _ Captain.”  _ She spits, yanking the knife out and pressing it to his throat. “I’m not a violent gal. I don’t  _ do  _ this most of the time. But you  _ crossed the line.  _ You scared  _ my  _ friends. You hurt  _ my  _ bodyguard. If you’ve worked your way up to earning a ship, you  _ know  _ how important bonds are to us all.”

“Mercy, please, I swear-”

“Your word means nothing.” Nebula snaps, leaning in close. “You hurt _ my  _ people _. Nobody  _ gets to do that- Not even if Mom herself wanted to. And by pulling this  _ bullshit,  _ you haven’t just wrecked things for yourself. You’ve wrecked it for your whole crew.”

His eyes widen again, and he opens his mouth, but Nebula doesn’t give him a chance to protest. She just slashes with the knife, barely even flinching at the way the blood hits her.

She wipes the blade off on her jeans, and turns towards the ship, still locked docks with hers. Still waiting for the captain to come back. She throws his corpse over her shoulder, and starts walking.

Even though she knows she’ll regret what she did tomorrow, she keeps walking. She knows she’ll remember each death, know logically that each one was a life wasted.

But how can there be logic when the people she cares about are scared, are hurt? Nothing else matters to her but them. She would see worlds burn for them, if she needed to. One ship is  _ nothing  _ by comparison.

That night, as she feeds her blood-soaked casual wear into the incinerator, her hair freshly washed, she knows it's what her father would have done. It's what he _did_ do for her. 

Maybe she's not so different from her family after all.


End file.
